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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27649058">The Slip Up</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harper44/pseuds/Harper44'>Harper44</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Rhett &amp; Link</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, M/M, Marital Problems, Multi, Negotiations, Some angst, prompted</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:16:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,528</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27649058</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harper44/pseuds/Harper44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>One night the wrong name slips from Rhett's mouth during sex.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Christy Neal/Link Neal, Jessie McLaughlin/Rhett McLaughlin, Rhett McLaughlin &amp; Link Neal, Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Slip Up</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Fuck, baby,” Rhett groans into her shoulder, thrusting harder as she gasps in his ear. </p><p>“Rhett, oh my, ah-” Jessie moans, nails raking down his back as her thighs squeeze his hips. Rhett’s lost to her tight heat, orgasm curling in his stomach, pressing kisses to her skin as he gives her what she wants. “I’m close!” she says, back arching into him as she moans out his name. “Rhett!” she shouts, cumming around him. </p><p>But the man is deep in a different fantasy, moaning, “Fuck, Link,” into her neck, only realizing his mistake on the other side of his orgasm a minute later when she freezes underneath him. </p><p>He doesn’t dare lift his face from her shoulder, carefully pulling out and trying to catch his breath while bracing for what’s to come. The longer she says nothing, the lower his stomach sinks, until finally he has to lift his head. Her eyes bore into him, but he isn’t brave enough to meet her gaze, instead rolling to his back next to her. “What did you say?” Jessie asks, voice wavering with anger or sadness Rhett doesn’t know, probably both. </p><p>“You know what I said,” he whispers, knowing it’s fruitless to deny it. </p><p>“You promised me so many times,” she says, bringing a hand up to her mouth to hold it in.</p><p>The fact that she hasn’t exploded with anger is more terrifying to Rhett than anything else. He sits up, head down, mentally preparing to pull on some clothes and walk away. He’d rather stay and promise her some more, fight her and tell her she’s wrong about something, anything, but she isn’t, not really. “I promise we haven’t done anything,” he says, grabbing a shirt, “He doesn’t know, it’s all me.” That statement saddens him on more than one front, desperately wishing he could run to Link now, no matter how horrible of a person it would make him. “I know you may not believe me, but we really haven’t,” he whispers, swallowing down tears as he pulls on pants. </p><p>“But you were thinking of him just now. You want to do something with him. I’ve never been it for you, Rhett, it’s always him,” she says, the anger he expected now coming through. </p><p>He can’t tell her she’s wrong, so he doesn’t tell her she’s right. Though he plans on just sleeping on the couch, he grabs a pair of shoes along with his phone and charger. Running a hand through his hair, he stops in the doorway and finally meets her eyes. She’s still in bed, sheets pulled up to her chest and lines of her face hard and set. It feels like she’s trying to burn him with her gaze and it’s working, so Rhett’s eyes return to the floor. “I’m sorry, Jessie. I probably shouldn’t say it because it’ll make you more upset, but I have to. I swear I love you so much.”</p><p>“But not more than you love him.” </p><p>He steps out of the room and shuts the door, heading downstairs and collapsing on the couch. No, not more than he loves him.</p><p> </p><p>Link looks up when he walks into their office the next morning, face making it halfway to a smile before it falls as he detects Rhett’s mood. “What’s wrong?” he asks. He looks stunning in the light of the window above his desk, black sweatshirt a stark contrast to how light his hair looks in the sun. </p><p>Shaking his head, Rhett drops his backpack next to his desk, “Nothing. What do we got today?”</p><p>For a long moment, Link looks at him. Rhett can’t meet his eyes either, so he pulls his laptop out of his bag to turn it on. Finally, Link starts talking about their schedule for the day. He doesn’t ask Rhett about his mood again as they get stuff done. Thank goodness they aren’t filming today or else Rhett might have lost it. At last, the day draws to a close and Rhett is slumped at his desk with his head in his hands. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t want to go home. It’s not even like he and Jessie were in a bad spot, he just slipped up and it feels like everything is crashing down around him even though not much has happened yet. Something is going to happen if he goes home. </p><p>“What’s wrong, Rhett?” Link asks quietly, leaning on the desk with his hip and looking down at his friend. </p><p>“I messed up,” Rhett whispers, rubbing his eyes before he glances up at him. </p><p>Link places a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, “I’m sure it’ll be okay, man. Nothing’s ever as bad as it feels like in the moment.” </p><p>He chuckles, eyes falling to somewhere around Link’s navel, “It’s pretty bad.”</p><p>“What…” he hesitates, “What happened?”</p><p>Rhett meets his eyes again, trying to decide what and how much he wants to say. Theoretically, he could resolve this with Jessie without ever telling Link how it involved him, but he also doesn’t want to face his wife again with Link in the dark. There’s a chance telling him could just make it worse on that end too, but he has to try. He needs someone in his corner right now and Link has always, always been there. He has to trust that he’ll be there now. “I said,” Rhett starts, pausing to take a deep breath, “I said the wrong name during sex.” It sounds kind of stupid when he puts it like that and Link looks more confused than anything, obviously trying to figure out what name he could have said. </p><p>“How…?” Link asks, unwilling to believe he was cheating. </p><p>Rhett stares unseeing at the surface of his desk, swallowing down his fears before he says, “I said your name.”</p><p>Link gets a funny look on his face, like he wants to think it was a slip up like calling your teacher mom, but he also knows it wasn’t. His hand leaves Rhett’s shoulder, which stings more than it should. “Talk to Jessie. It’ll be okay,” he says, stepping over to his desk to grab his backpack. </p><p>Hurt and upset, Rhett says, “How do you know that?”</p><p>Link stops on his way out the door, gaze locking meaningfully with Rhett’s, “I’ve said your name in unfortunate moments too.”</p><p> </p><p>The kids have headed to bed and Rhett is finally alone with his wife for the first time since the night before. He sits on the bed, Link’s assurances lingering on his mind. Jessie stands in front of him, arms crossed. “Christy talked some sense into me,” she says, tone tight and controlled. Rhett looks up and meets her eyes with surprise. She bites her lip and looks away, “I’ve always feared there would be a day you left me because you realized you’ve always loved him. But you’re a good man and you’ve stayed because you love me, if not as much as you love Link, and I have to be okay with that because I knew that before I married you.” </p><p>“God, Jessie,” Rhett says, timidly reaching for her arm, “I’m not gonna leave you, I never thought of leaving you.” </p><p>“I know,” she whispers, fighting back tears and pulling him into a hug. Husband and wife hold each other for a long time and Rhett refuses to let go until she does. After a while, Jessie pulls back, giving him a kiss and saying, “Christy and I talked for a while. I think you need to call Link.” </p><p>“Okay,” Rhett says, “I love you.”</p><p>“I love you too.” He holds his wife a few minutes more before slipping downstairs onto the back porch and calling Link. </p><p>“Hey, man, what’s up?” Link says when he answers. </p><p>“You were right, it’s okay.”</p><p>“Told you.”</p><p>Rhett hesitates, “Have you talked to your wife tonight?”</p><p>He can practically hear Link’s smile through the phone, “Yeah, I have.”</p><p>“What… what are we doing? Jessie said I should call you.”</p><p>“We have our wives’ blessing to try… whatever it is that’s got us having each other’s names on our minds during sex. I don’t know where you want to begin with that, but I kind of want to kiss you,” Link says, voice nearly a whisper by the time he’s done speaking. </p><p>Rhett smiles, “I kind of want to kiss you too.” </p><p>“I’ll come over there,” Link says. </p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Yeah, really, I’ll be right there.” He hangs up and Rhett is left on the porch with his phone to his ear, wondering what the heck is about to happen. He quietly walks through the house to the front porch and stands there instead, still lost. </p><p>Link pulls into the driveway and hops out of his car, grin on his face making Rhett feel a little more sure of himself. His best friend steps up in front of him and without a word, rises to his tip toes and gives him a kiss. That’s all it takes to bring Rhett back to earth. He wraps his arms around him and kisses back like it’s the last thing he’ll ever do.</p>
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